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The Madhyamika or Middle Way, a school of Buddhist thought that originated in India in the second or third century, was a decisive influence in the subsequent developement of Mahayana Buddhism. In a new approach to its study, The Emptiness of Emptiness reconsiders the central doctrine of emptiness and shows that the Madhyamika critique of all philosophical views is both subtler and more radical than most Western interpretation indicates.

Building on earlier research into Sanskrit and Tibetan sources, the present work also examines the assumptions that have governed the study of Asian soteriological philosophy. In assessing the philosophical significance of the Madhyamika, the author demonstrates that the thrust toward a self-critical awareness of methodological presuppositions lies at the very heart of early Indian Madhyamika.

In this analysis, the self-deconstructing categories of Nagarjuna and his immediate followers emerge as an edifying philosophy that may have a great deal to offer to discussion of the related problems of objectivity and relativism issues crucial to current philosophical conversation in the West.

The volume also contains the first complete English translation of Candrakirti's Madhyamakavatara (The Entry into the Middle Way), with extensive exegetical and text-critical notes.

This book offers a detailed explanation and classification of herbs,using the ancient system of Ayurveda. This fully developed and theoretically articulated medical system developed in India has proved itself effective for more than 5000 years as that country's classical healing tradition.

More than 270 herbs are listed, with 108herbs explained in detail. Included are many of the most commonly used western herbs with a profound Ayurvedic perspective. Important Chinese and special Ayurvedic herbs are introduced. Beautiful diagrams and charts, as well asdetailed glossaries, appendices and index are included.

The term 'yoga' has many traditional meanings. In Ayurveda, the medical science of India, yoga refers to the ìright usageî and ìright combinationî of herbs. A special combination of substances designed to bring about a specific effect upon the body or mind is thus called a 'yoga.' This coordinated or integrated usage of herbs was based upon the ancient Ayurvedic science of herbal energetics. In this is a system for determining the qualities and powers of herbs according to the laws of nature, so that herbs can be used objectively and specifically according to individual conditions. A yogic usage of herbs implies such an harmonic application of the potencies of herbs.

In this book, for the first time, this Ayurvedic herbal science is applied to western herbs, as well as to a few major oriental herbs, both Indian and Chinese. It is the purpose of this book not to present Ayurveda in the distance, as something foreign or ancient, but to make it
a practically applied system of herbalism.

The ocean of Hindu scriptural wisdom in the form of teachings of ancient masters of the religion is too massive for a single individual. This book presents, however, a compact connected collection of such wisdom from the vast and deep literature on Spiritual Hindu Thought. Presenting the esoteric meanings and significance of numerous names of Gods, through the words of Rishis, it explains the philosophical foundations of Hinduism, rooted in the Upanishads, the Gita and other ancient scriptures. A glimpse of the synthesis of religion and art as exhibited by the Divine Dance in the Nataraja temple of Chidambaram is also provided.

The primary goal of the series is to explore and study the relationship between spirituality and health in a concise and readable format. It will seek to integrate spirituality into medicine on a scientific basis. It will shed new light on major contemporary issues in this fascinating area of research. It'll bridge the chasm between health and well-being on the one side and religion and spirituality on the other. It'll provide a comprehensive review of the research on the interface between medicine and spirituality. It'll also endeavour to go beyond research by offering clear, concise and helpful recommendations on how to address spiritual and health issues and how to utilize the expertise of all professionals to provide the best and most compassionate care possible.

Tibetan medicine was probably the first truly integrated system of ancient healing science. Tibetan Ayurveda provides a comprehensive guide to the four levels of traditional Tibetan medicine with a wealth of traditional health practices and teachings.

Much of the contemporary material on Tibetan medicine focuses solely on herbal medicine and acupuncture; Tibetan Ayurveda goes beyond these to look at other important forms of treatment such as Pancha Karma for detoxification and rejuvenation and Kum Nye for integrating mind and body. Using the source text of the Gyud-Zhi, “The Ambrosial Heart Tantra,” Robert Sachs looks at the powerful regenerative therapies that underpin this ancient healing science. He provides clear explanations of their principles and methods and supplies guidelines on nutrition, exercise, relaxation, rejuvenation, detoxification, as well as on meditation and other spiritual practices. A self-profile test is included to allow readers to determine their own health needs and embark on the path toward realizing their full potential for health and well-being.

Sushrut Samhita is the epic of Shalya Chikitsa. Shalya is the study of imbalance of four humors Vat, Pitta, Kaph and Rakta or disease produced by them, identification of disease or the method of curing the disease.

According to Sushrut an uninterrupted circulation of the living factor Rasa (Chinese call it Qi) is responsible for a good health and any obstacle in the circulation results in disease. The disease appears in its true form in that channel where there is an obstruction. The disease is cured if the path or speed of circulation of Rasa is revived. This Rasa is circulated in the Dhamanis. The four types of siras responsible for the circulation of Vat, Pitta, Kaph and Rakta are almost situated at the Marmas. Stimulation of these Marmas revives the circulation of Rasa in the Dhamanis.

The book is an attempt to present the Sushrut Samhita in its right perspective. It presents the correct meaning of Sira, Dhamani and Marmas so far have been misunderstood as vein, Artery and tissues to be saved during surgery. Sira and Dhamani are not vein or artery instead they are the channels for the circulation of Ras.It revives Sushrut Shalya Chikitsa which is lost to give the right direction to students and researchers of Ayurveda.

The neti pot is one of the most popular new methods of personal hygiene and health improvement available today. This simple tool for nasal irrigation, coming from the ancient tradition of Yoga and Ayurveda, is a great way to counter nasal congestion, sinus allergies headaches and many other health problems that can otherwise be difficult to treat. By enabling you to breathe better it can give you more energy that can literally transform your life.

Neti: Healing Secrets of Yoga and Ayurveda is the most thorough and practical presentation of how to use the neti pot yet available. Notably the book shows the place of such `nasal therapies` in India`s great healing traditions and their broader relevance for treating common diseases.

Ayurvedic Healing presents the Ayurvedic treatment of common diseases, covering over eighty different ailments from the common cold to cancer. It provides a full range of treatment methods including diet, herbs, oils, germs, mantra and meditation. The book also shows the appropriate life-style practices and daily health considerations for your unique mind-body type both as an aid to disease treatment and for disease prevention.

This extraordinary book is a complete manual of Ayurvedic health care that offers the wisdom of this ancient system of mind-body medicine to the modern reader relative to our special health concerns today. The present edition is a revised and expanded version of the original 1989 edition, covering additional diseases and adding new treatments.

Ayurvedic Healing is oriented towards the practical treatment of disease. It is intended to serve as a handbook of Ayurvedic therapy, mainly on herbal level. It also explains relevant dietary, life-style and yogic methods to enhance herbal therapy, including the use of oils, aromas, colours, gems and mantras.

On the first level of treatment, Ayurvedic Healing outlines general constitutional and life-style measures for health enhancement and disease prevention and gives home remedies for common disease. We can treat many of our disease ourselves or at least aid in their treatment. A few simple therapies as part of our daily regimen can work wonders for countering many health problems. Only when our life-style is out of harmony, do severe diseases arise and professional health care becomes necessary.

On the second level of treatment, Ayurvedic Healing provides specialized medical knowledge and outlines specific remedies, including various herbal recommendations. However, accounts of diseases and their treatments are given here only in essence. Additional knowledge and experienced practice may be necessary to deal with severe conditions, acute symptoms or long standing complaints.

Soma is one of the key words in the ancient traditions of India. It stands for all that is gentle, beautiful, delicate, and sweet of temperament. It is also a synonym for the Moon. A person is complimented by calling him/her saumya, moon-like. A saumya face, saumya mien is what one looks for in choosing a friend.

Soma is part of the eternal pair of Agni- Soma. Agni is the fire element; Soma is the water element, moonlike. This pair is the Vedic equivalent of the Taoist yin-yang principle, balancing of the female and the male, energizer (female) and the energized (male).

What is the secret of Soma, the legendary mystic drink of immortality, first lauded by India's ancient Vedic seers? Is Soma a single plant, a type of plants, a way of healing, a special intoxicant, or an inner elixir produced by Yoga and meditation?

Going back to the vision of the Vedic seers, David Frawley reveals the secret of Soma for body, mind and spirit, with its profound implications from diet and herbs to pranayama, mantra and meditation. His new analysis of Soma, reflecting forty years of study of Vedic texts, is practical, comprehensive and deeply insightful so that you can bring the secret power of Soma into all aspects of your life and consciousness, and for the world as a whole.

The book, weaves together the outer and inner search for immortality and transcendence of death and sorrow. It shows that an immortality in consciousness is our very nature-and that it is possible to prolong our outer lives by aligning ourselves to it. The orientation of
the book is practical, presenting comprehensive knowledge and special methods to heal and rejuvenate body and mind ñ and to resurrect
the immortal spirit within us. Yet the book does require that we look at ourselves, examining our nature not simply as human beings, but as immortal souls. The book rests upon a yogic view of who we are, what our greater existence is, the nature of mind and consciousness, and the place of our physical life within the context of many lives and incarnations.

The first part of the book deals with only that part of the basic anatomy and physiology, which is important in understanding the mechanism of yoga practices. This time a special note, in the form of tips 'from yoga point of view', has been added so as to understand various concepts and aphorisms of yoga clearly. The second part of the book describes the traditional technique of asanas, pranayamas, bandhas, mudras, kriyas (cleansing practices) and their possible mechanism. This book would help the reader: To learn the basic structure and various functions of the body, to understand the yogic concepts, the correct technique and the mechanism of the yogic practices as well as their physiological effects on the human body, to know wheather we can modify the techniques of these yoga practices with the help of the scientific information about them for better application, to understand the principles of yogic therapy, its application, contra-indication and limitations, to know the scientific aspect of the Aum chanting.

ISBN(Hardbound): 8178223953, 9788178223957
Series: Medicine & Spirituality
Pages: xii, 232
Language: English
Year of Pub.: 2013
Edition: 1st

The theory of humors, vital fluids whose proportions in the human body determine its health and temperament, is far from outdated. And what we sometimes think of as a modern concern with ecology and alternative medicine is really as old as the traditional medical techniques of the classical West of South Asia. It is to the latter that Francis Zimmermann turns his attention, in a remarkable evocation that combines Sanskrit studies and anthropology. He reconstructs and exposes the linkage between humors, persons, and soils in classical Hindu medicine. His work will interested those involved in the areas of medical anthropology, medical anthropology, medical history, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and South Asian studies. It will also be valued for the vivid and accurate descriptions it offers of a few basic ideas our time has borrowed from Hindu culture: flower power, vegetarianism, non-violence, and the comic dimensions of the human body. In classical Ayurvedic medicine, a comprehensive view of the whole human person included the patient's humoral integration into the surrounding soil. The Jungle was the most crucial environment, and the Jungle was - and is - the dry land of the Punjab and the Delhi Doab, an open vegetation of thorny shrubs. The polarity of dry lands and wet lands framed not only the whole Ayurvedic materia medica but also the more general conception of a comic physiology governed by Agni (the sun) and Soma (the dispenser of rain). Clearing the land and draining the body were two aspects of one and the same art of managing the transactions of all sorts of vital fluids, saps, juices, savors, and humor. Medicine in the context of thought and practice associated with the Jungle was, and still in modern India, a kind of agriculture.

The present work is intended not as a handbook but as an introduction to its subject, to be read from beginning to end. Each section is preparation for the next. Chapter I, presenting as it does a brief historical outline of the transformations of Indian art as well as a key to the symbology of the forms, can be used as a guide during the first perusal of the pictures. For the reader then wishing to find quickly the several portions of text referring to any spefific group of monuments, a copious index has been supplied, together with textual references in the Description of Plates and cross-references in the footnotes. Marginal references to the Plates, furthermore, accompany the text. These should make possible an easy and rapid correlation of the materials of the two volumes.

The first two groups of Plates in the text volume illustrate, for the most part, the anthropological and comparative observations of the text. Included among them, however, are a few photographs that are indispensable to Dr. Zimmer's argument but do not meet the aesthetic standard of the Plates volume. On the other hand, the final cluster of text Plates constitutes. an independent pictorial appendix, illustrating the miniature and Rajput art of the eleventh to nineteenth centuries A.D. Dr. Zimmer's notes on this subject had not been developed beyond preliminary jottings, and could not be incorporated in any major section of the text. But since there is actually a rather special, very delicate, lyric quality about these paintings on palm leaf and paper, which sets them apart, somewhat from the tradition of the stone monuments, it is not inappropriate that they should be given a separate place.

To scholars in the field, the need for an up-to-date overview of the art of South Asia has been apparent for decades. Although many regional and dynastic genres of Indic art are fairly well understood, the broad, overall representation of India’s centuries of splendor has been lacking. The Art of Ancient India is the result of the author’s aim to provide such a synthesis. Noted expert Sherman E. Lee has commented: “Not since Coomaraswamy’s History of Indian and Indonesian Art (1927) has there been a survey of such completeness.” Indeed, this work restudies and reevaluates every frontier of ancient Indic art – from its prehistoric roots up to the period of Muslim rule, from the Himalayan north to the tropical south, and from the earliest extant writing through the most modern scholarship on the subject.

This dynamic survey-generously complemented with 775 illustrations, including 48 in full color and numerous architectural ground plans, and detailed maps and fine drawings, and further enhanced by its guide to Sanskrit, copious notes, extensive bibliography, and glossary of South Asian art terms-is the most comprehensive and most fully illustrated study of South Asian art available.

The works and monuments included in this volume have been selected not only for their artistic merit but also in order to both provide general coverage and include transitional works that furnish the key to an all encompassing view of the art.

An outstanding portrayal of ancient India’s highest intellectual and technical achievements, this volume is written for many audiences: scholars, for whom it provides an up-to-date background against which to examine their own areas of study; teachers and students of college level, for whom it supplies a complete summary of and a resource for their own deeper investigations into Indic art; and curious readers, for whom it gives a broad-based introduction to this fascinating area of world art.

Although the poetry and philosophy of India were discovered by Europeans over a hundred years ago, and had the most important influence, the visual arts of India remained unappreciated. While 'Sakuntala' and the 'Sermons of Buddha' were recognized as having the same stature as the writings of Sophocles or Plato, and were incorporated into every European literary tradition, the plastic arts of India weretreated as if they were pictorial supplement to the history of religion or the anthropology of a remote and alien country, of a mysterious, sensuous, exotic world. The discovery that the arts of India have their proper place in the universal history of art remained to be made. One may, without any fear of exaggeration, claim that this book is the first in the field

The book surveys the structure of Indian sculpture in its relevant aspects. The underlying and essential qualities are viewed in their permanency throughout the special conditions that the single monuments imply. Their outward connections, geographical and chronological, are seen to resolve themselves into ethical problems and those of the artistic process itself.

While stylistical investigations are the basis of this book, Indian sculpture is dealt with as conditioned by the Indian craftsman. His consciousness makes him known to himself as a part of nature and his work is the form of this 'naturalism'. Its degree and aspects vary according to the levels of his consciousness.

One of the three Great Gods of Hinduism, Siva is a living god. The most sacred and most ancient book of India, the Rg Veda, evokes his presence in its hymns. Vedic myths, ritual, and even astronomy testify to his existence from the dawn of time. In a lively meditation of Siva-based on original Sanskrit texts, many heretofore not translated-Stella Kramrisch ponders the metaphysics, ontology, and myths of Siva from the Vedas to the Puranas. Who is Siva? the author asks. Who is this god whose being comprises and transcends everything? None of the pairs of opposites, nor the sum of his uncounted names, defines him. From the down of creation, the Wild God, whose ancient name is Rudra, is Consciousness. He is the Great Yogi, the guardian of the absolute. His actions are the themes of the myths in which his nature unfolds. By retelling and interweaving the many myths that continue to convey Siva`s presence as a living god in India today, Professor Kramrisch unfolds the paradoxes in Siva`s nature and thus in the nature of consciousness itself. The magnificent sculptures at Elephanta, illustrated at the end of the book, capture in another medium the presence of the god.

This work is a product of the Inscriptions of India Programme of the Indian Council of Historical Research undertaken with a view to making inscriptions dating from circa sixth to fourteenth century a.d. available in handy volumes. Part I studies the inscriptions of the Sarabhapuriyas, Panduvamsins and Somavamsins who played a major role in shaping the destinies of the Chhattisgarh region of Madhya Pradesh (Kosala) and the adjoining region of Orissa from about the sixth to the early twelfth century a.d. It provides a background to the study of the inscriptions by attempting to deal with their formal aspects like the format, palaeography, language, orthography, contents and methods of dating and to trace, for the first time, the evolution of their draft. Dharmasastra injunctions regarding the preparation of deeds of land-grants and their actual epigraphic parallels have also been discussed at length. The work sheds welcome light on the chronology and history of the region during the period in question and offers several original suggestions basing on fresh discoveries and new interpretation of known records. With its many interesting features, the work will surely be found enlightening by students and researchers delving deep into early Indian history and epigraphy.

Kalatattvakosa series of the IGNCA has endeavoured to evolve an important modern device to grasp the essential thought and knowledge system of the Indian tradition. Through an in depth investigation into the primary sources of various disciplines the series aims at facilitating the reader to comprehend the interlocking of different disciplines.

This constitues the first volume of the series. It indicates the scope of the project and provides a list of sources which will be surveyed in the sebsequent volumes, as well as provide a guide to secondary literature for further study of Indian Philosophy. It lists in relative chronological order, Sanskrit and Tamil works. All known editions and translations into European languages are cited; where puplished versions of the text are not known a guide to the location of manuscripts of the work is provided.

This series endeavoured to evolve an important modern device to grasp the essential thought and knowledge system of the Indian tradition. Through an indepth investigation into the primary sources of various disciplines, the series aims at facilitating the reader to comprehend the interlocking of different disciplines. The present volume is the fifth in the series. It is the manifestation of the vicaragni (fire of thoughts) kindled by the earlier seers and continued by later thinkers that highlights a number of visual art forms. The form or shape remains the basic element despite its multiple representations and their explanations.

Kalatattvakosa series of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts has endeavoured to evolve an important modern device to grasp the essential thought and knowledge system of the Indian artistic and cultural tradition. Through an indepth investigation into the primary sources of various Indological disciplines, the series aims at facilitating the reader to comprehend the interdisciplinary approach of Indological and arthistorical research. The present volume: Abhasa (Appearance/Symbolic form) is the sixth manifestation of the series devoted to key concepts of Indian art and deals with the abstract or symbolic forms containing closely related eitht terms where the basic concept of abhasa, appearance or seemliness or reflection is inherent. Abhasa helps to realise the structure even in the field of symbolic or invizsible form. This volume contains eight articles on the following concepts abhasa, Sadrsya-sarupya, anukarana/ anukrti/ anukirtana, chaya, bimbapratibimba, linga, pada and vrttiriti.

Mayamata
An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography (An Updated Edition with revised Glossary)

The Mayamata is a Vastusastra, that is to says a ’treatise on dwelling and as such it deals with all the facets of gods’ temple dwellings, from the choice of a site to the iconography of temple walls. It contains many precise descriptions of villages and towns as of temples, houses, mansions and palaces. It gives indications for the selection of a proper orientation, of right dimension and of appropriate building materials. It intends to be a manual for the architect and a guide-book for the layman. Well thought of by the traditional architects (sthapati-s) of South India, this treatise is of interest at a time when technical traditions, in all fields are being scrutinized for their possible modern application.

The Mayamata has so far been translated into Tamil and into French. The present English version is based upon the French translation by
the same author. The Sanskrit text and most of the footnotes, which accompanied French edition, have been omitted so that the book may be of reasonable size.

The glossary is presented in an abridged form, most of the drawings have been retained and some more added but it should be noted that they are meant to be no more than tentative sketches.

Paratattvaganitadarsanam, or Principles of Transcendental Philosophy of Mathematical Truth is a bridge connecting two fields, the field of mathematics and the field of metaphysics. It establishes general paradigm that the mathematical truth can represent metaphysical truth. It shows, in particular, that Advaita Vedanta articulates mathematical truths whose validity is absolute. This conclusion is arrived at on the basis of the fact that mathematics has the capacity to articulate transcendental truths, which are beyond our normal capabilities.

Paratattvaganitadarsanam provides the basic framework in which the statement, 'a part is equal to the whole' is a true statement. The material is presented in the form of a dialogue between two main characters, a Vedantin and a Mathematician, 'both standing on a common platform (which is impartial and earnest inquiry into the
Absolute and attainment of the highest)